Construction of Bifunctional UCST-Responsive Claw-Shaped Cellulase Traps for Enzyme-Recyclable Lignocellulosic Hydrolysis

Adding additives to improve lignocellulosic enzymatic hydrolysis and recycling of cellulase effectively reduced hydrolysis costs. Herein, we derived several thermoresponsive claw-type strong binding cellulase traps (PSTP) using triallylamine to cross-link the prepolymer of sulfobetaine and vinylpyrrolidone (NVP). The product improved lignocellulosic enzymatic hydrolysis and recycled cellulase. The high NVP molar ratio of PSTP significantly enhanced the enzymatic hydrolysis of corncob residues (CCR). Specifically, CCR’s substrate enzymatic digestibility of 72 h (SED@72 h) improved twice by adding 8.0 g/L PSTP₅. PSTP with a moderate NVP molar proportion and a large molecular weight significantly enhanced enzymatic hydrolysis and recovered cellulase properties. When a mere 0.12 g/L PSTP₂ was added to the CCR high-solid system, SED@48 h increased by 1.1 times. After hydrolysis, 60% of the cellulase dosage was saved. Conclusively, we report a new method for enhanced hydrolysis and recovering cellulase using a cellulase trap. This new strategy efficiently reduces the enzymolysis cost of the lignocellulose-based sugar platform and separates proteins.